Hanna, directed by Joe Wright, was released earlier this year, boasting an excellent cast including Saoirse Ronan as the titular girl assassin, Eric Bana as her father Erik Heller and Cate Blanchett as their nemesis, CIA operative Marissa Weigler. The film opens in a snowy Finnish forest where Hanna is being trained by her father and has been hiding out for her entire life, before she flicks a switch on a transmitter box allowing their presence to be known. The rest of the film details the chase of both Hanna and her father by Marissa’s team and also the revelations of Hanna’s true identity.
This is an incredibly stylish action film, sound-tracked very effectively by a score by the Chemical Brothers which intensifies the tension and also pounds out, heartbeat-like, lending the violent action sequences a propulsive quality. The European setting of the film, going through Morocco and ending up in Berlin, also adds an individuality to the film that is not to be found in more generic American action films, all seeming to be set in the same identikit metropolis. The film is especially effective in the usage of an abandoned theme park in East Berlin, with plastic dinosaurs and abandoned rides giving the scenes shot there an eerie mood.
There’s also humour, mainly added by the presence of a middle-class, bohemian English family on holiday who Hanna tags along with. At first they provide an amusing contrast with the discernable gap between the spoilt attitude of Jessica Barden as Sophie and Hanna’s obvious drive to survive. As the film progresses, the family’s presence heightens the stakes as they become entangled in Hanna’s fate.
On a simplistic, Bechdel-test level, having Blanchett and Ronan as two of the main characters puts this film into my good books. Both are entirely believable in their depictions of aggressive women of action. Hanna is the one who is given the choice as to when to alert the outside world to hers and her father’s existence, so it is her decision that sets off the chain of events that the film depicts. The contrast between Ronan’s pale and fragile appearance and her actions is also very satisfying to watch, disrupting the traditional action-hero stereotype. It is pitched very much against other action-heroines seen in science-fiction or fantasy, who are often overtly sexualised through their costuming; there is no room for impractical catsuits here. Blanchett’s portrayal of Weigler is also great to watch, entirely driven by her commitment to her job and intent on using any means to fulfil her goals of eliminating both Hanna and her father. Her Southern accent has been criticised by some reviewers but I unfortunately can’t comment on this and how it might affect her believability as a character, having never been to the Southern states myself. As it is, I found the depiction of Weigler as a high-ranking CIA operative in charge of a primarily male national security force striking in her natural-seeming authority.
This film is one of the best action films I have seen in a long time, having a defined and interesting visual style. It’s also great to see Ronan and Blanchett’s characters deservedly being given centre stage, so do seek it out.
Recommendations:
Leon (1994) Luc Besson’s tale of a teenage assassin played by Natalie Portman is a clear predecessor to Hanna. This time, her training by Jean Reno forms the core of the film.
Kick Ass (2010) Chloe Moretz as Hit-Girl is the foul-mouthed superhero flipside to Hanna’s cool approach to assassinations.
Jo Gilbert
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